


shortest route

by a_popcorn_kernel



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Post-Reveal Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26963065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_popcorn_kernel/pseuds/a_popcorn_kernel
Summary: Marinette’s face was ghost-white when he offered her her diary, still perched on his baton.“Here you go, m’lady,” he said, eyes twinkling.Marinette reached over and hugged him forcefully, her eyes tearing up with relief. “What were youthinking?”He laughed sheepishly. “Well, itwasthe shortest route.”Post-reveal pre-relationship. Adrien drops by Marinette's balcony, and when Marinette's notebook is blown off by the wind, he, to Marinette's horror, recklessly jumps off to save it.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 25
Kudos: 220
Collections: Miraculous Writer's Guild September Event 2020





	shortest route

**Author's Note:**

> a big thank you to [mininoire](https://ao3.org/users/MiniNoire) for beta-ing! this fic was inspired by that one scene in maid sama where usui jumps off a building to catch misa's photo and if it doesn't make sense then sue me because this is purely self indulgent and im not ashamed to admit it >:P

It was a cool, autumn day, and the air was clean and crisp. Marinette sat on her balcony, legs tucked underneath her as she scribbled in her diary. Or, well, a stand-in for one.

She hadn't touched her diary in a hot minute—not since Tikki had come into her life. After all, it was much easier to say one's thoughts aloud than to waste time slaving away at a desk.

Besides, paper lasted. Paper could be used against her. She'd learned that the hard way, through Chloé.

But there was just _something_ about pouring your feelings into words, inking out your emotions onto paper. So she'd taken from her room one of those thin paper notebooks that were sold wholesale, and gone up to the balcony.

And so she sat. And so she wrote.

Marinette supposed this change had been brought about by one thing. Namely, the discovery of the fact that Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste were one and the same, her kitty and her friend. ( _Friend_. Ha.)

Days later and still she flushed at the mere recollection, mind flashing with how their masks had melted away and their eyes had met, sheer shock and delight coursing through her veins.

It had been pure luck, that day, when they'd run into each other with only seconds to spare on their timers. Almost as if the universe had willed for them to collide, and meet again as Adrien and Marinette in that very same spot.

Yet they hadn't endeavored to clear up the lingering tension that had come with the reveal.

Chat Noir loved Ladybug. She loved Adrien. If Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person, then…

Marinette shook her head, cutting the thought short before it could fester like an open wound. _No_ , she told herself firmly. There was no use in wasting her time daydreaming. Not when there might be no valid cause for it.

She set to work on her notebook again, as Tikki finished a cookie and reached for another one.

As if the universe had decided to revoke her good luck, Chat Noir burst into view, landing hard on the balcony. 

Marinette spluttered, leaping from her seat. “Ch—Adrien!”

He grinned that cocky grin of his. “Hello, princess.”

She sat back down, trying to ignore the way her heart raced. “I don't think we have patrol this early, _chaton_.” 

He smiled softly as he whispered his detransformation phrase. Plagg zipped out of the ring and off with Tikki to who-knows-where as Adrien leaned back against the railing. “I just wanted to see you, I guess.”

Marinette's cheeks flamed. Just moments ago she'd told herself she'd banish all thoughts of him from her mind. And now he— he appeared with those stupid, _stupid_ confessions that were going to eventually _kill_ her—

“Hey, what's that?” 

She blinked, nudged out of her buzzing thoughts. “What's what?”

Adrien tilted a head in her notebook's direction. “That.”

She pursed her lips, unsure if she should answer. After all, Adrien might ask to see it, and where would that lead her? Straight to her social death. 

But his face softened, pleading, with every second, and she could already feel herself succumbing.

“A diary. Of sorts,” she finally said.

Sure enough, his eyes lit up with an eager twinkle. “Can I see it?”

Marinette weighed her choices, teeth digging into her lip. Saying no would bring out his nagging. Saying yes would put an eternal blush on her face.

She flushed. What was she supposed to do?

Just then, Adrien interrupted her flustered thinking, making her look back at him.

“It's alright, Marinette.” Adrien's smile was understanding. And so, so sweet. “I understand.”

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you. To be honest, I don't think I could bear to show what I've written to anyone at all.” 

“Yeah, I get that. I would die if I had to show anyone my childhood drawings.” Adrien grimaced. “Mother never let me throw them out, though.”

An uncomfortable silence settled on them with the mention of Emilie. 

Adrien was the first to break it, changing the subject with ease. “Do you have any sketches you could show me, in place of that? I’d love to see a Marinette original in the works,” he chirped.

Just like that, the smile—and the blush—was back on Marinette’s face. “Yep! Hold on, I’ll just go back inside to get it.”

But just as she set down her diary, a sudden, strong gust of wind blew, riffling their hair and taking the lightweight notebook with it. Marinette watched in horror, wind whistling over her head as it went over the edge.

Before she could even say a word, Adrien was up and over the railing, in hot pursuit. “Plagg, claws out!”

She dashed toward the railing, heart in her throat. “Adrien! What are you _doing_!” she screamed. Her mind flashed, unwillingly, with a dozen different memories of his death by her side, and she whimpered, rooted to the spot in fear.

He’d caught the diary already, and just as he was about to crash into the pavement and _almost certainly die,_ he extended his baton and used it to bring himself back up to her balcony. 

Marinette’s face was ghost-white when he offered her her diary, still perched on his baton.

“Here you go, m’lady,” he said, eyes twinkling.

Marinette reached over and hugged him forcefully, her eyes tearing up with relief. “What were you _thinking_?” 

He laughed sheepishly. “Well, it _was_ the shortest route.”

She let out a shaky laugh at that, breaking away from him. He climbed over the balcony railing and uttered a quick detransformation, Plagg shooting him a disgruntled look as the kwami went back over to Tikki.

Marinette sat down. “For a moment I thought I’d lost you.” Her voice cracked. “Why, _chaton_? How?”

“Why what?” He gingerly placed the diary on the chaise.

She dropped her face into her hands. “How do you so mindlessly throw yourself into danger? How can you do that to yourself?”

Adrien sat down by her side, hovering uneasily. “Princess...”

Marinette lifted her head. “How could you do that to me?” she murmured, and they both knew she wasn’t just talking about today.

Adrien put his hands on her cheeks, dotting a kiss on her forehead. “I’m sorry, my lady.” 

A sudden burst of adrenaline and giddiness pulsed through her when he did that, and paired with the sheer anxiety she'd felt only moments before, it gave her an odd sort of energy. On impulse, she pressed her lips to his, ignoring the blush that spread across her cheeks. 

“Don’t do that again, okay?” She cracked a wobbly smile, wiping away the last of her tears. “Idiot. Idiot kitty.” 

“Still _your_ kitty.”

She laughed, swatting his arm. “Shut up.”

“Make me,” he quipped, smiling.

“Oh, I will,” she replied, her eyes darting towards his lips. She leaned in, and Adrien noticed, to his relief, that his joking had seemingly erased most of her initial worry.

“Don't think this means I'm letting you off the hook, though,” Marinette breathed against his lips. 

Adrien smiled sheepishly. “I guess I've got a lot to make up for. What do I do, my lady?”

Marinette blurted, “Well, you could start by kissing me again.” Her cheeks pinked.

At that, Adrien's grin widened. “Oh, it'd be my pleasure.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr at [@apopcornkernel](https://apopcornkernel.tumblr.com)


End file.
